Just the Two of Us
by Took-Baggins
Summary: Poor Roddy. He just doesn't know what has got Rita so upset. Light Rodita.


A/N Well, here we are. Another little oneshot from your's truly. I think I started this for a contest or something, but now I don't remember what it was. It's probably over now, so oh well. I tried to have it sort of fluffy, without laying it on too thick here. In the original Roddy and Rita got all kissy-kissy but I didn't know where to take it from there, so I changed it into this.

I just love these two. It was tempting to leave it the other way and just not go anywhere with it...

I'm still not satisfied with it...but I say that about everything, so you'd do well to just ignore that statement.

Hope everyone likes it! Remember to be nice and push the little 'review' button down at the bottom, okay? Thanks for reading, everybody!

Disclaimer: After five years I'm tired of writing these disclaimers. FA isn't mine, we all know it, and it is unfortunate indeed.

x x x

Poor Roddy. He stood in the narrow hall of the Malone family's new home, staring blankly at Rita's door. It had been closed to him for awhile now, ever since Rita had shut herself inside. Something was upsetting her.

Poor poor Roddy. He just didn't understand women. He wasn't even sure of what he had done to upset her. He _had_ done something, that much was obvious. If only he knew what it was. He could hear her on the other side of the door. What was she doing? Crying? The thought came to him with an immense amount of doubt. Never, in all the months they had known each other, had he ever seen her even close to it. It was more likely that she was in there huffing about, angry.

Feeling a little confused, Roddy sagged against the opposite wall. He decided to just wait it out and apologized when she decided to come out again. Hopefully she wouldn't want it to be a very detailed apology.

The silence in the hall felt heavy around him. Somewhere down the hall a salvaged wristwatch hung upon the wall, ticking loudly in the darkness. Roddy ignored it, squinting instead at the slit of light spilling out from under Rita's door.

"She probably won't come out if she knows you're here waiting for her." Roddy looked up, a little startled. Rita's father (now almost entirely cast-free) was moving along the lengthy hall, making barely a sound as he joined Roddy by the door. "She won't face you, she's not going to want to explain herself."

"Did I do something wrong?" Roddy whispered through the dark. The older rat shook his head.

"No, don't worry yourself. It's something she's always been a little touchy about."

"And what is 'it' exactly?"he asked. He was still as confused as before, and Rita's dad gave him a pitying sort of look.

"Didn't you notice? She waited an entire extra day to see if you would."

"Notice what?"

He cocked an eyebrow at Roddy, a little annoyed . "Her birthday! She wanted to do something with you." Roddy remained silent. "With so many children in the family sometimes it's a bit hard to celebrate it properly. She never says much about it, but it seems she's always felt like she's getting shorthanded."

"...And since I'm here this year," Roddy was finally putting it together. "She had hoped that I would know and ..." he trailed off as the door across the hall began to inch open, light from within seeping over the pair whispering to each other. Rita peered out at them.

"I know the two of you are enjoying yourselves gossiping in the dark, but I need to talk to you, Roddy."

"Are you going to shut the door on me again?"

"Just come in here." she didn't give the quick retort Roddy had expected. He followed her in, knowing he was in for a serious talk. Rita shut the door behind him.

"What did he tell you?" she asked quietly. He sighed and sat on the edge of her bed.

"You're birthday's passed, hasn't it?"

"Nice of you to notice." she said quietly, moving to fiddle with several scarves hung from a hook in the wall. He watched her shift her weight, leaning one shoulder against the wall.

"Rita...why didn't you tell me?"

"I shouldn't have to tell you, Roddy." the fabric fell from her hands as she turned to look at him, still leaning. "There are thirty-eight other people I this family, at least. Why couldn't they have told you? Why couldn't they think of me long enough to do that?" it was written all over her face...she was hurt. She knew that they loved her, they were a very close family, after all, but she had hoped they would do this one thing without her having to ask. She wanted them to tell her best friend about her birthday.

"I'm sorry." he rose to approach her, taking her hands in his. "Rita, I'm sure they didn't realize it was so important to you that you not tell me yourself. I promise you, I'd never have let it pass unnoticed...had I known..."

She looked down at their hands, feeling a little sheepish. "I'm being silly, aren't I? Getting so upset..."

"Not at all! You've every right to be upset." she was silent. Roddy watched, concerned, as she sighed. It was not at all often that his friend allowed herself to get upset about anything. He hated seeing her this way. "Tell you what." he nudged her chin, lifting it so she would look at him. "Why don't you and I go out tonight?" she brightened as a smile spread over her face.

"Really? You mean, you and me, no...tag-a-longs?"

"Just the two of us." Roddy grinned as Rita began to cast about the room, looking over piles of clothing she had tossed into the corners. "Why don't we go dancing? That's always enjoyable."

"Dancing?" she began to pick up a few things, tossing them aside and shaking her head indecisively. "Isn't that the type of thing where you get all dressed up? I'm afraid I haven't got many fancy clothes. In fact, I don't think I've got _any_."

"Fancy clothes? You don't need any of those things, Rita. You happen to be delightful just the way you are." Rita stopped her searching, turning to look at him.

"Delightful? Am I really?"

"Of course. Anyone man would be lucky to have such a beautiful girl on his arm." she smiled, turning away.

"You're much too sweet to me, Roddy. I wonder sometimes how I'm lucky enough to have a friend like you." she moved back toward him, moving to wrap her arms tightly around his neck. "I don't care what I do tonight...just as long as I'm doing it with you." Roddy felt himself blush a little as he took hold of her waist. She held him tight, her face buried into his shoulder. "I'd like nothing more than to spend tonight with you."

"Rita...we spend every night together."

"Yes, but there's always someone there. It's never just us." she pulled away so she could look into his face. "And tonight it is."

"Alright. We'd better get going if we're going to make it out alone."

x x x

"Dear?" Rita's mum was standing in the kitchen, elbow deep in the day's dishes. She paused and peered through a small window overlooking the dock outside. Her husband looked up from where he sat at the table. "Rita and Roddy just dropped down from the upstairs...it looks like they're leaving..."

"Well I should hope so. It's about time Rita got to do something for her birthday."

"Birthday?" she turned to stare at him, a confused look on her face. "But today isn't her birthday, it's Seamus'."

"Her's is passed already, poppet, we didn't really get to do anything, remember?" he reminded, before going back to his paper. His wife turned back to the window, even though her daughter was already gone. She sighed, suddenly feeling very guilty." I can't believe we forgot it."

A/N Sorry if it just seems to cut off.


End file.
